I'm still trying to understand what's driving Eth's price appreciation. There are two critical areas where I see Ethereum struggling to implement its smart contract platform:
1. Network Scalability
2. The legal framework for Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO).
---Network Scalability---
When Vitalik has to start a “Scalability Subsidy Initiative,” in effect, a cry out for help from the developer community at-large to assist with the ever back-log of Crypto-kitties and fur-balls clogging Ethereum’s network, “Houston, we have a problem.” Smart contracts have been Ethereum’s Bread-n-Butter for the better part of the past +3 years, the very backbone of the blockchain’s existence and they have yet to find a viable solution to the network’s scaling issues. According to Vitalik, scaling Ethereum’s network “is the single most important key technical challenge that developers need to work on before blockchain applications can be widely used.” However, a smart contract platform does exist that is not hack-prone or have scalability issues that plague Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus-based networks like Ethereum, called Codius. Codius is Ripple’s smart contract platform that will be released this year. I think we can expect great things for Codius especially since it will be built on Ripple’s Interledger Protocol (ILP) using JavaScript (JS) programing language instead of some newly developed code, like Ethereum’s Solidity. While Ripple might not have had sufficient “bandwidth” to fully commit to Codius development early on, due to the focus on the development of its blockchain solutions (xCurrent/xRapid/xVia/ILP), it is my belief that they have been quietly working on it behind the scenes for a while now.
For the longest time, I use to think that it was a poor strategic business move for Ripple to have placed their smart contracts program on the back burner, yielding the space almost entirely to Ethereum and others to build upon. However, in retrospect, it was probably one of the best business decision they could've made. Like Stefan Thomas (Ripple’s CTO) said in his most recent Quora Q&A session, “I worked on Ripple’s smart contract system Codius back in 2013–2015. Back then, our conclusion was that a viable smart contracts ecosystem requires a standard for payments first. Contracts need to be reviewed to be trusted and that’s expensive if you need a new contract for each type of asset because every ledger has a different protocol/API. Thus, Interledger was born.” The folks at Ripple knew that the power of the Internet came from the fact that it connects everyone. It can do this because it is not a single network or system. The Internet is basically a network of networks. Information being sent to multiple providers using open-source protocols like TCP/IP. This allows communication to be seamless irrespective of what provider people are associated with. Ripple understood this same concept needed to be applied to facilitate the instant transfer of money or anything of value. Hence, Interledger Protocol (ILP) was born to serve as this open-sourced TCP/IP-like protocol allowing for the materialization of the Internet of Value (IoV). We see its integration across multiple projects (i.e. Linux Hyperledger project via Quilt and W3C Interledger Payments Group). Ripple, up until now, has been known for its laser-like focus on building its institutional grade network for all things related to payments: cross-border, retail, B2B, and P2P. However, now that Ripple has successfully scaled RippleNet, increased Interledger Protocol (ILP) integrations, and escalated xRapid adoption, they are now beginning their vertical growth strategy. While I’ve spoken about Codius/ILP mashup, I should also mention Ripple's planned foray into what is being dubbed, "Specialty Markets," currently targeted by smaller alt-coins start-ups. Think: Syscoin, Siacoin, Tron, Golem, and Gridcoin.
---Legal framework for Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)---
There are some pretty radical applications that can be achieved with smart contracts. There are some basic building blocks of contracts that have to be addressed here so a lot of work still has to be done. Software developers understand the "smart" portion, but not always the "contract" part. This is the 2nd area I see Ethereum struggling to navigate (1st being their network). With any new technological revolution, the devil is always in the details. I think everyone whose jumped onto the Ethereum bandwagon are mere speculators and folks who have little to no understanding of what a smart contract is or how difficult it will be to implement. I have listed below a list of a few questions that were asked in a conversation I had with a corporate IT/contract attorney on this regarding the legal minefield that one must consider when developing a smart contract:
1. How does one apportion legal liability for the operation of the DAO?
2. Who are the directors and/or owners of a DAO if the code is self-propagating and self-sufficient?
3. How will the courts interpret the smart contract or DAO in the event of a dispute?
4. How does one even handle contract disputes (for example if the code fails, produces an erroneous result or is corrupted/hacked)?
Moving money in a ledger requires regulations that have to mesh seamlessly with current laws in all jurisdictions where such said money will reside. This is a huge problem, but Ripple has already solved that with their (xCurrent/xRapid/xVia/ILP) solutions. Moving data in a legally binding way requires legal decisions on a global scale and that won´t happen unless there are set standards. Because Ripple’s blockchain solutions are already in place and being utilized globally, it makes building the legal framework to allow a smart contract platform layer on top so much easier (Remember Stefan Thomas quote noted earlier concerning ILP and interoperability). Smart contracts focusing only on information are much faster and more secure than platforms which try to handle both money and data. This is the reason I see Codius as the premier player when smart contracts really start to become a reality. Also, Ripple has one major advantage over the other blockchain platforms, like Ethereum. It's one of the few in this space that's an established company operating within international regulatory guidelines and rules already. Running code that might be subject to 3rd party IP claims is a real issue at the enterprise level. Ripple's international status with the global financial/banking/regulatory community gives them credibility. Dealing with the regulatory community is nothing new to Ripple as it has had to navigate the tumultuous cross-border payments regulatory terrain over the past 5+ years. It is utilizing a similar strategy to tackle the 4-issues mentioned above that they did to develop their international payments regulatory standards via their RippleNet Advisory Board. So, in essence, build-out the scope of this advisory board to include a rule-book; a set of common standards and best practices that ensure operational consistency and legal clarity for smart contracts. This way all participants on the RippleNet network are bound to such said parameters. To me, it is evident that Ethereum believes a reckoning is coming soon in the smart contract space and senses other players starting to make major moves to become the leader in smart contract development. We’ve already seen them acknowledge that a pure PoW consensus model does not work as they begin the transition to a hybrid PoW/PoS strategy (Casper) and this latest cry for help by Vitalik via his newly minted “Scalability Subsidy Initiative.” It goes to show you just how much time, energy, and thoughtfulness Ripple’s developmental team devoted to the proper execution of their business plan; knowing what processes needed to be done 1st, 2nd, and 3rd to achieve their goal of becoming this facilitator of the Internet-of-Value (IoV).

I kinda hope we start getting more tried-n-true investors into the space. Way too many novice and inexperienced investors who don't take time to understand the fundamentals of their investments. It's just pump-n-dump. They are like zombies, moving aimlessly from one shiny object to the next, but such is the way of crypto investing these days.

When you know the truth of the situation.....it allows one to peacefully during the storm. Buying as many as I can. To be honest, I didn't expect the price to fall this low. When it hit 1.90 I thought it was a firesale. I feel like a 5yo kid at Toys-R-Us right about now.

Crypto investing is not for the faint of heart. Every person who's ever asked me about investing in this space the first thing I tell them is not to invest more than what they were willing and able to lose. This is a volatile space and if folks are bitting their nails and pacing the floors all because of a correction, which is normal in this space, then that tells me 1. They were expecting some get rich quick fairy-tale that's not promise. 2. They did not do the proper due-diligence in understanding what they were investing in (highly speculative sector, new technology, inadequately regulated space- that gives rise to extreme pumps and dumps). 3. Didn't have the money to lose in the first place.

Let's think about this logically, it's highly unlikely that they would post a collaboration related to Stellar Lumens on their website. C'mon, let's give them a little more credit than that. They're not that ******* stupid!!!!!

It's more of a re-iteration of a previously announced initiative that (IMO) highlights what seems to have been a collaboration between Ripple and the Central Bank of Australia. Looks to me as if Ripple is subliminally saying without literally saying, "Hey, look at how we helped the Reserve Bank of Australia streamline the cross-border/domestic payment rails for Austrailia; we can do the same for other countries as well: Exploring Innovation in Payment System Infrastructures. I for one like the subtle genius of the message. Seems like Tom Channick, Ripple's Head of Communications (formerly Facebook's communication manager), is getting to work quickly since starting January 2nd.